Dad and I were walking in the park one day, we had started doing this just to hang out together. We also worked on his boat together. It seemed that we needed each other more since mom died. I missed her, even if I was five when she died, I still remember her.

"Hey, Dad, you going to try to come to my piano recital tomorrow, if a case doesn't come up?" I asked. He looked down at me.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world, Kelly." We continued to walk in silence, happy with just being close.

I saw something under one of the few weeping willow trees. It was a teenage boy, he seemed like he was holding onto the tree I think dad saw it too because he stopped me.

"Stay here until I'm sure it's okay, Kelly."

I was close enough to listen when he walked over to talk to the boy. He was over-protective sometimes, since Mom was murdered. My Dad approached the boy and he spun around. As he did we could see there were bruises starting to form on his face and he was holding his ribs. I heard Dad speak to him.

"We need to get you to the hospital." I saw the boy step back away from us. He looked scared and, as he spoke, there was pure fear in his voice.

"I'm fine sir." I looked closer at him. Yeah, right! Your voice and face really tell a totally different story, I thought to myself.

My dad got that look on his face that he got with Stan, when he was being boss. The boy looked scared as Dad reached out and touched his back. I could see he was getting ready to bolt so I rushed over and smiled to him.

"We want to help you and get you to the hospital." I could see my Dad looking at me, he had given me a direct order to stay where I was until he told me otherwise, and he wasn't happy. The kid looked at me.

"I can't go! If I go, he will find me." He whimpered at me, I couldn't help it I reached across and stroked some hair out of his face. I smiled at him, trying to let him know that I was a friend. Then it came to me.

"Dad, Ducky!" My dad looked at me and he nodded slightly. He looked at Tony.

"Name is Gibbs. Come on, we're taking you to a doctor and I will keep you safe, kid." I could see a small spark of hope in his eyes. I looked at him as we started to walk over towards the exit. My Dad asked, "What's your name, son, and how old are you?" I looked at my Dad, he had changed his voice to a more gentle tone than his usual ordering tone. I was glad, we didn't need to scare him more than he already was, especially now that we had got him to follow us. He whispered a reply.

"I'm twelve si… Gibbs." Well, we got one answered, he seemed very reluctant to give us his name. I looked at my Dad.

We walked to our house because it was close to the park. There was a master bedroom upstairs with an en-suite bathroom and then there were two bedrooms that shared a bathroom. Then there was another bedroom downstairs that had its own bathroom, that's where my grandmother lived. She was away at the moment but she would be back tomorrow. She was around to help while dad worked. She was visiting some friends in a town a couple hours away. She is my maternal grandmother.

He was quiet, so Dad called Ducky. When Ducky got there, he helped him take his shirt off, I was stood in a corner, watching. His chest, ribs and back all had bruises, some looked like they were healing and some looked like they were new. Duck spoke gently to him.

"My dear lad, what happened to you?" Ducky was like a grandfather to me, he had that gentle touch and could always make you feel relaxed, so you would trust him and tell him what was wrong. Well, his stories could be a little long and annoying, but otherwise he was the perfect grandfather to me.

Tony stood up and as he did, the glass of water that Dad had got for him crashed to the floor and the glass broke. He instantly was down on his knee, picking it up and speaking in a frantic voice.

"I'm sorry! Please don't hit me! I didn't mean to!" I froze and looked over at my Dad, who promptly knelt down to cup his chin.

"I would never hit you for that, son, it was a accident." Dad helped him stand back up. There was pure fear in his eyes now.

"I didn't mean to! When I knocked his drink on the floor, the glass broke and he was so mad and drunk. He…." He stopped, looking at my father then he started to speak again. My father and Ducky were being very patient. He stopped again, took a deep breath, and then he hesitantly he began again. "He told me I was a failure as a son. He started to hit me and he told me that I would just end up in the gutter, where I belong."

I could see the anger building in my father's face and he was clenching his hands. I came in from where I'd been listening to all this from the kitchen and I started to sweep up the glass. He looked at me warily. I smiled back at him, it was better if he stayed calm. Ducky started to look him over and Dad told me to go and get the guest bedroom ready. I headed out to get it ready for our guest but I could tell he was still scared. I was going to make sure his room was next to Dad's, in case he decided to run during the night. Dad was a Marine, so he would wake at the slightest sound. Also, if he had a nightmare, being near Dad's room was the best.

Ducky and my Dad got him to the guest bathroom, Dad got him some sleeping pants and a t shirt that he put in the bathroom, and let him take a shower. Dad waited by the door for him to come out. Ducky came downstairs and smiled at me.

"He's scared, it seems his father is not much of a father." I nodded some and looked at him.

"He didn't want to go to the hospital, he said that he would find him. So I thought, maybe, if we called you, it would be best until we could get him to talk a bit more. We still don't know his name!" Ducky nodded back.

"Well, I gave him a shot for the pain and he should be more relaxed and able to get to sleep. It is good your father's room is near his."

I nodded at Ducky. A little while later, he finished his shower and Dad got him to eat some rolls filled with meat and cheese. Ducky was right, he was ready for bed. I stood at the door as I watched Dad with him.

"Son, I need a name so that I don't have to call you "son" all the time. I even call my own daughter Kelly." I smirked at his little joke, the boy seemed to relax as he started to fall asleep.

"Tony!" Then he was out like a light! He was so tired and I was glad he was asleep, he needed some rest.

I woke up in a sweat and just sat there in bed, thinking. Why were these people being so nice to me? I was a worthless piece of shit that was being sent off to Military school because I was a failure to my father! The man named Gibbs had a commanding voice but he seemed to have something about him that made me want to trust him. His daughter, Kelly I think he said her name was, she was sweet! I liked her, she made me feel comfortable. The old man was a calming force while he tended to my wounds. No-one had really been gentle with me before, my father always told the doctors that there was no need to be nice, just to take care of my wounds.

When the sun come up, he peeked into my room and, seeing I was awake, he walked over and sat down on the bed.

"So, you're awake!" I nodded to him and he looked me over. "Well, I am going to be straight with you. I need to get a hold of the law today but I will make sure they know that you are in my custody. I am not allowing you to go to foster care nor am I going to let you go back to that bastard of a man that you seem to think is a father to you." I looked at him absolutely amazed.

"You won't let him get me, you promise?" He nodded and ruffled my hair some.

"Tony, I need your whole name." I looked at him and I took a deep breath, gathering my courage.

"Anthony DiNozzo, si.. Gibbs." He nodded at me.

"When tomorrow comes, we'll call, but for now Ducky says you need to rest and just some time to relax. He said that he would be back this afternoon to check on you again." I nodded and he stood up, giving me a gentle look. I stood up too and walked with him downstairs. He made some coffee and he looked at me.

"Not sure what you want to drink, but Kelly has some cokes and some juice in the fridge, just find what you want. I want you to know something right now, no-one is going to abuse you ever again, not on my watch! You got that, Tony?" I looked at him, I could hear the truth in his words and see it in his eyes. I nodded and smiled some. He leaned against the wall, before continuing.

"My mother-in-law will be back tomorrow. When I am at work, she takes care of the house. She also watches Kelly when I have to work overtime." I looked at him. I had got some juice and I sat down as he sat down with his coffee. "I'm a NCIS agent, that's basically like the FBI but we work for the Military. We work the cases for them, like murders and all the other good stuff." I raised my eyes and looked at him with even more respect.

"Really? That's so cool!" He shrugged some as he leaned back, looking to me.

"I also have friends around, they can make sure your old man doesn't get his hands on you, ever again. They will want to find you a foster home, I'll apply for that myself. I don't trust anyone else to take care of you nor do I trust them to watch you close enough so that your father can't get back at you." I thought to myself that maybe, just maybe, I would be safe here and I wouldn't have to go to military school. He stood up and smirked.

"Come on, let's go to the basement and talk some more while I work on my boat." I headed downstairs with him! He wasn't kidding about the boat thing. He started to sand it and I sat at the bottom of the steps.

"So, tell me some more about what's gone on with your life. Like, where is your mother?" I looked down and slid my hands through my hair, I wasn't sure what to say and he seemed to be giving me time to get my thoughts to where they needed to be, so that I could talk about it. I sighed and looked down as I started to talk.

"She was great. She loved me and she sang to me. When I was five, she died of cancer. That's when my father started in on me, he told me it was my fault that my mother died. He would get drunk and beat on me. But I was lucky sometimes, he would leave me with the servants and there were a few times he forgot me in a motel that we had traveled to for a business deal. He would have to send a servant to come get me because he forgot me." I looked at Gibbs. I could see his hands clenched and I flinched involuntarily. He walked over and I cowered as he sat beside me. He looked at me. He took a moment before he began to speak and then it was with anger.

"You didn't kill your mother! Cancer isn't caused by a person. Your father was a jerk, son. Everything he said to you isn't true. From what I can tell, you're a good kid. We are going to make this right and I will raise you with Kelly. We will make sure that your teenage years are spent without fear. You will not go back to that asshole."

I had never really thought of my father as bad, but Gibbs seemed to think that and I was glad that he wanted to raise me. He was a good man, from what I could tell. Maybe I could be happy?

I leaned against the door that leads to the backyard and I watched Kelly and Tony playing some basketball. They both seemed to like the sport. They got along real well, he was still getting used to me but Kelly had always been the kind of girl anyone would love and become instant friends with. I was glad she was here to help, Tony seemed to be relaxing with our family. He had been with us for a week now. I had confronted his father myself. The bastard got on my nerves, and I let him know I had friends in high places too, and I could sure as hell make sure he went to jail for child abuse. There was medical proof of abuse and I would get a therapist to talk to Tony to also add that to the proof that was building up, that he had been abusing him.

In the end the old man had basically said fine, I could have him because he didn't need a piece of shit son like that. I had to stop myself from hitting him because I wanted to make sure I kept the boy safe. We went to the courts together and, in front of a judge, he signed over custody and guardianship of Tony to me. When we were back outside, I also let him know that if he ever came to try and get Tony, that I wasn't a man to mess with and that wasn't a threat. That in his head, he left and I headed home and found them playing ball.

"Hey, Tony, Kelly, come inside, I've got some news for you!" I leaned against the counter as they walked in. Kelly smiled her usual beautiful smile, the one she got from her mother, at me.

"Yeah, Dad, what's up?" Tony just looked at me.

"Well, I took your father, Tony, to the courts and in front of a judge he signed custody of you over to me. I am now your legal guardian."

The next thing I knew, I had Tony arms around me in a tight hug. I stroked his back some, letting him know I was there but he stepped back fast, the look of "shit, I just hugged another man" on his face and I laughed to myself. Since Shannon died I'd never seen myself raising another kid, but it seems I've got myself a son!

The week he had been with us had proved that he was a good kid. He had slowly started to show a bit of a smart mouth, and without thinking about it, I hit him on the back of the head, not hard enough to hurt him but just enough to make him wake up. He seemed to take that as a good thing! When he was babbling and got off the subject, it just redirected him to getting back to what he was talking about. I could tell Kelly was happy about all this too. She seemed to become good friends with Tony and I smiled. She needed someone to keep her company when I was working because her grandmother couldn't be all that much fun.

School was something else he had to learn about. He wasn't us to public schools but I enrolled him in the local school, just as I had Kelly when she started. He settled quite quickly and soon joined the basketball team and he seemed to do good there. The kid was always a bundle of energy! He woke up at 0600 and took a run with me every morning. The weekends that I wasn't working, along the morning runs, I was teaching him how to fight like a Marine. The boy needed to know how to protect himself so he would not have to take abuse from anyone else. Then during the afternoon, I took Kelly and Tony to the shooting range. I know it seems odd, wanting my daughter to know how to shoot, but I wanted her to always be able to protect herself, especially in case I couldn't for some reason.

Truth be told, I didn't feel safe teaching my daughter to fight, so when I started teaching Tony to fight and she asked me if she could learn, I told her that she could take classes with other girls. I was glad I had a smart daughter. She understood me more then most kids of her age would have but I always thought that was because her mother died when she was five and we'd had to learn to live together and understand each other. I missed Shannon, and I knew that she would have loved Tony. Like me and Kelly, Tony was family now and we loved him.

I was fourteen and Tony was sixteen. He had been with us for four years now. I was in the principal's office with Tony when my dad came in. The principal was about to say something when my dad looked at him, pissed, he gulped and Dad looked over to Tony.

"Want to tell me why you punched some kid?" Tony looked at him and I could tell he was scared because we were both taught that fighting was only for protecting our life. Tony swallowed before haltingly answering.

"He was trying to kiss Kelly, and the guy has a reputation of taking freshman girls and….. Well, God, I'm not going to say this in front of Kelly, Dad." He sent us both outside and stayed to talk to the principal. Tony ended up being suspended for a week. I looked at him and grumbled while we were waiting.

"What's wrong with me kissing some boy? He was cute, Tony." Tony looked at me. I think he was trying to figure out how to tell me what he knew. I had known that the boy was the kind that liked to go out with girls for just as long as it took to take their virginity. I had just wanted a kiss, I wasn't going to have sex with someone I didn't care about!

"You deserve better, Kelly. Damn it, don't let yourself go down to that level, you're a better person than that." I looked to him as Dad came out, he looked at both of us.

"Let's go home." I was sent to my room but I snuck back down to the basement door, which stood open. I think that Dad knew I was going to come listen, he must think I need to hear this.

"Dad, he was going to kiss her, ask her out then he was going to have sex with her. He does that and then dumps the girls. And Kelly is better than that, you know that Dad! I wasn't going to let him do that to Kelly, damn it. I will always protect Kelly from dirt bags like that, Dad!" Tony was screaming, and for him to do that to Dad means he was really upset. For Dad to be letting him, he either agreed with Tony or he was letting him get his frustration out. I sat near the door thinking, I concluded that it was a bit of both because I'm sure if dad was in that situation, he would have done the same.

I heard my Dad speak.

"Tony, don't stop sanding. Come on." This was our second boat, the first one he gave to Grandpa Jackson when grandma had died. He had named it after her and given it to Grandpa. I know they were not married but they had been friends in a way. They talked to us on the phone when dad wouldn't talk to him. Then I heard my Dad speak again.

"Good job, son, but next time, use something beside force. There is something call intimidation and you're good at that, when you want to be. I've seen you on the courts and I have also seen you when you need to say no to someone that just won't take it. We also need to trust Kelly. I know it's hard, believe me, there are times I have wanted to stick up for her, but she does it on her own."

I heard Tony grunt, he was still annoyed. I heard them sanding away down there. I smiled, I loved my family. I had two men that were so protective of me. Truth be told, the first kiss I ever have, I want it to be Tony but I don't know, we live together and both called my dad, "Dad", maybe he wouldn't see me that way? I heard my Dad call up the stairs.

"So, Kelly, you going to come and help with the boat?" I smiled and I headed downstairs and started to help. I looked at Tony and stuck my tongue out at him! He raised a brow at me instead of speaking and he continued to work on his part of the boat.

Seriously, who could ask for more? Tony and I were best friends. I had a Dad who loved me and was protective, but seemed to get it that I was old enough to protect myself and knew when to come to him. Me and Tony were both on the basketball team, well not the same one, I was on the girls and he was on the boys. My dad looked at Tony for a second and with a huff, Tony spoke.

"Sorry, Kelly. I guess I shouldn't have punched him, but I swear if you have sex with anyone, I'm going to kill them." I heard the exasperated sigh from Dad, because Tony had started out okay but then just blew it!

I didn't lose my temper with Tony, I knew better.

"Well then Tony, guess I'll never tell you when that happens!" I started to sand and Tony growled but he refrained from saying what he'd been about to say when Dad slapped him on the back of the head.

"Sorry, Dad. I'll keep sanding." He started to go back to sanding and I had to shake my head. This was the best a girl could ask for. I loved them both so much and would do anything for them.

I laid in bed that night, I couldn't believe I'd got suspended. No-one kisses Kelly. What the hell, the guy was one of those guys that just romanced a girl to sleep with them, why was I punished so hard? What was also running through my head was what was wrong with me? Why had I got jealous? Come on, they were my family, and Kelly was my best friend. Dad would strangle me and kill me if I even tried to ask Kelly out on a date. And she's only fourteen. I turned over and buried my head in the pillow. What the hell am I going to do? I'm falling for Kelly.

I couldn't sleep so I got up and slid on some sweats and a tank top. I knew dad was at work because they had got a case. I left a note on the coffee table in case he came home or Kelly had another nightmare. She had told me how she was in the car when her mother had been killed so she would come to me when dad was at work. I would take her back to her bedroom and stroke her hair until she went back to sleep. I had my own nightmares but Kelly's were worse then mine. I mean, mine were just about my old man beating me. I left the house and started to jog, thinking that was something we shared, we both lost our mother when we were five. It made her stronger and me, it made me, well I'm not sure what it made me.

I knew that Kelly wouldn't sleep with some guy unless she loved them and she thought it was right. She wasn't some stupid blond like those that were always hitting on me. But I had walked up, I don't even think I really knew who the guy was, until afterwards. But he was leaning against the locker, with Kelly between him and the locker, and he was leaning down to kiss her. I saw green and I'd slammed my fist into his face. What had surprised me most was when we got home, Dad told me I'd done a good job. But he was right, I should use tactics other than violence. I wasn't my old man, or was I?

I was running I don't know how long, but when I heard some one coming up behind me, I turned around to run backwards. It was Dad. He looked at me and I turned back and we ran on, side by side.

"Tony, you know your not him, right?" He always knew what was bothering me, and he was always there for me. I stopped and leaned against the tree, letting some tears fall.

"Dad, I didn't mean to hit him. I just, God, I didn't want Kelly to get hurt." I felt his fingers stroke through my hair. He looked down at me.

"Tony, we all screw up and it wasn't that big of a screw up! I mean, I agree I don't want Kelly lowering her standers for some piece of shit like that." I looked at him, he always knew the right words to say and the right caress in my hair to make me relax! He tossed a rag at me. "Now get that sweat out of your eyes so we can jog back home, I need some food."

When we got home it was about 0630. I ran upstairs and took a quick shower. I came back down. It was my turn to cook breakfast, Kelly and I took turns. If dad didn't work on the weekends, then he would cook for us. It was my turn to do breakfast and dinner today. Well, I was suspended, so I had all day to think what I wanted to make for dinner! I didn't have a lot of friends, not even the basketball team were true friends. We were friendly to each other and we were a team on the court but that was it. My family were my friends, the ones that I stayed close to. Kelly and I really didn't have a lot of friends that came over. Usually it was just me and her spending time together.

Kelly walked in and slapped me in the back of the head.

"What the hell, Kelly?" Dad walked in after his shower and looked at her. Kelly grunted.

"You went out on another midnight run. I don't like it when you do that, you worry me." I looked at her and stuck my tongue out as I continued to cook.

"Yes, mother!" She hit me again. I winced. She got that from Dad, damn it. "I'm a big boy, Kelly, so just sit down so you can eat before you go to school, huh?" She sat down and I handed everyone their plates. We sat down and started to eat in a peaceful silence.

Dad drove Kelly to school, it was either him or me. When I had turned fourteen, I had got a job when basketball season wasn't going. I had earned enough to pay for half of a used car! Dad paid for the rest of it when I got my license. I was the one that drove us to school but seeing as Dad was home, he did it as he headed to work. But I would if he wasn't home tomorrow morning. I started to do some chores around the house. We had started doing them because Dad worked hard at his job. He was making a difference in the world, stopping murders, etc. I started to write down a grocery list. I had the weekly money from Dad to get them. I had always wanted a car so I could drive myself places but the downside was that I had to do chores for Dad. Though I didn't mind driving Kelly around, since we hung out a lot anyway.

Truth be told, I didn't mind doing any of the chores for Dad because it made me useful to him. It took me a year to start calling Gibbs "Dad" because he was the father I had always wanted since my mother had died. He was at my games whenever he didn't have a case and whenever I needed him, I could talk to him. Like when I lost my virginity, I was nervous that he was going to be mad but he had the talk with me about six months before it happened. I remember him telling me that if it was meant to happen, that I needed to use protection and I had kept some in my wallet ever since. I wasn't dating anyone right now but that didn't mean I didn't have the need to be with a girl. But, truth be told, I wanted it to mean something and I was going to wait until I found someone I could love. Well, at least, I hope I can hold out that long!

He wasn't biologically my son but I was damn proud of him for protecting Kelly like that. I was dreading them getting together at some point. I could see the look in both their eyes, they thought more of each other than just friends and not as siblings. But they were both blind to each others feelings in that way, for now. I know there was more jealously to punching that kid out, who was trying to kiss my little girl. Before Tony, whenever I went to work there was always a passing thought about the day that my mother-in- law would die and Kelly would be home alone. But, after Tony became part of the family, he became protective of Kelly and I was glad he would be here when I wasn't. He went on those runs but we both knew that Kelly had some training to protect herself, she also knew were the gun was.

Some people would call me a bad father for teaching my children to shoot a gun, and how to use it to protect themselves, if they needed to. I told them to always try to see firing the gun as the last resort. But, in my line of work, I had people that hated me and would use my kids to get to me. They were both damn good with a gun and their fighting skills were good too. There was one thing that both scared me and made me proud of both of them, they both wanted to protect and serve in some way. Kelly said she wanted to become a forensic lab tech. That was safer and I knew and appreciated it, but I also knew that Tony wasn't the type to be tied down to a lab, he would want to be on field duty.

What scared me even more was Tony was either going to go into the Military or become a damn cop. I was not going to stop my son from doing what he wanted to do. I would be proud of whatever he chose. But there was nothing wrong with praying that he chose to be a cop over enlisting in to the Military, when he graduated from high school. That was the onely thing different between Kelly and Tony. They both made good grades, Kelly was a straight A student, she loved science and loved to learn, whereas Tony made A's and B's but he preferred sports and I couldn't seen him going to college. Kelly, on the other hand, was already looking at getting into a good college for forensics.

They both could get scholarships to college, Kelly's would be academic and Tony could get a basketball scholarship. The boy was the best and had made Captain of the varsity team already and I was damn proud of him. He had told me once that he wanted to stop things from happening, like kids going through what he did and he wanted to get murderers off the streets to make them safer. God, I hoped that meant he wasn't going to enlist. I came home that night and I could smell the fried chicken! Tony sure was a good cook.

"Guys, I'm home!" I smirked as my daughter hugged me. I walked into the kitchen where Tony already had some coffee made, he handed me a cup. "Thanks, Tony!"

Tony was cooking when he spoke.

"Hey, Dad. I was wondering if I could drive to New York City this weekend. I want to use my money to buy a ticket and go and see Green Day." I looked at him. Knowing Tony, he had probably already got the ticket. I leaned against the counter.

"You get one for Kelly, too?" I saw him freeze for a second, then he nodded.

"Yeah, I did, Dad. Please?" I smirked at him again.

"How about this. We all go and you two can go to the concert. I'll find something to do. We can get a two bed motel room. You and me can share a bed and Kelly can have the other bed." He knew I wouldn't go with them to listen to some music that would just piss me off. Kelly launched herself into my arms.

"Thanks, Dad!" I laughed and Tony smirked some.

"Yeah, Dad, thanks. It's going to be so cool, we might even get us an autograph." I smirked back. They were good kids, they were more grown up than some but they also could be normal teenagers as well. I let them. I knew they were more grown up because since my mother-in-law died, they'd had to take care of the house and each other. Most kids had at least one parent raising them. I was raising them just not as much some did but, truth be told, it didn't effect them. They were not bad kids, they would make any parent happy.

I loved watching Tony play in basketball games. He was seventeen now, and a senior. I was a senior as well, I had skipped two grades so Tony and I were in the same grade. He still scared off all the guys from really asking me out and dating me. I was annoyed sometimes but I was also glad to know that I had someone so protective of me. The past two years, since I realized I had fallen for Tony, my feelings had grown stronger. My Dad sat down next to me.

"What did I miss, Kelly?" I smirked at him.

"Other than Tony kicking ass, Dad?" He laughed some as I told him what was happening.

Then it happened, the team they were playing against were playing dirty! I saw Tony go down and the other guy, from the other team, landed on top of him. When he got up, I could see that Tony was in pain, so could Dad. We both were up and on the court without hesitation. Dad was kneeling down, next to him.

"Son, talk to me. What's wrong?" When the coach tried to stop Dad from doing what he, the coach, should be doing Dad just looked at him and he backed off. I heard Tony, trying to sound like nothing was wrong, then he sat up and he grabbed his arm. Dad looked over at me. "Kelly, call Ducky. Tell him to meet us at the hospital." I nodded as Dad helped Tony up. He was wincing in pain and for Tony to do that it was bad.

I was sitting down and dad was pacing the length of the waiting area. I knew he wanted to knock the kid out, that landed on Tony. When Ducky came out, I stood up and walked over to be next to my Dad.

"Jethro, it was a clean break. He will have a cast on his arm for a month. Nothing too bad, just a break in his arm." I knew that wouldn't comfort my father and I knew that Tony was going to hate it because it meant he couldn't finish the season out. But I took a deep breath, relieved that he had just broken his arm. When they finally released Tony, he had a cast on his arm. I had gone to the store in the hospital and got a marker so I was the first to sign his cast. Ducky was the second to do it. Dad drove us home.

Truth be told, if I ever saw the kid that broke his arm, because I could tell that the way he took Tony down, it wasn't some damn accident. Tony was the best out there and the other team knew that. I wanted to break that kid's arm for hurting Tony like that and for ruining his chance of playing in the finals in his last year at playing the game. Dad and I both knew that Tony wasn't going to college. I had already got a scholarship to a college in D.C. that was one of the best for forensics. Tony and Dad were proud of me but I knew that Tony didn't want to go any further. He wanted to serve and protect more then go to college.

Like my Dad, even if he didn't say it, I prayed to God that he didn't want to enlist after graduation. Also like Dad, I supported Tony in everything he wanted to do and he would make a soldier, even if I didn't want him to do it, if that was what he wanted to do. We were in the car when Tony spoke up.

"Dad, that kid was cheating. I didn't do anything wrong." Some of Tony's insecurity showed sometimes, mostly when he thought he wasn't going to make Dad proud of him. I looked over at Dad, hoping he would say the right thing. He did!

"Yeah, I saw, son. I didn't think you messed up, you did good! You were winning the game for your team. It's a shame that you can't finish the season, you the one that's taken them to state finals the past two years and I don't think they will make it without you." I could see the look on Tony face. He agreed and was blaming himself.

"Tony, it's not going to be your fault if the team doesn't go to or win the state finals." He didn't respond to me but Dad and I knew what he was thinking! Right now, we couldn't change his mind, he thought he had messed up the chances for them winning the state finals this year.

I had screwed up the team's chance of going to state finals and winning. I screwed up bad! I had gone to my room right after we got home from the hospital. The pills they gave me had knocked me out, for that night at least. The whole day at school, the team looked at me like I had failed them. I quit the team and someone else was made Captain. Kelly was with me when some of the team looked at me that way and she had chewed them out. Kelly was always my strongest supporter! We were two years different in age and I swear I was in love with Kelly, but I couldn't do anything about it because I was going to join the Marine Corp after graduation. I still thought that if I dated Kelly, Dad would kill me.

That evening, I heard a knock on my bedroom door.

"Come in!" Dad came in and he looked at me.

"Kelly told me that the team was looking at you as if they were disappointed with you, son. It's not your fault! You didn't let anyone down!" I grunted some and slammed my math book shut.

"Dad, I am a fail…" He slapped me harder then normal on the back of the head, then he sat down.

"Tony, I don't want to hear that from your mouth! You are not." He looked at me and I knew better then to lose eye contact with him. "You have made me proud. You got me, son?" I looked at him, shocked. It was rare, if ever, for Dad to say something like that.

"Really, Dad?" He nodded some, then he stood up.

"Come on, Kelly has dinner ready." We headed downstairs and nothing more was said on the subject after that.

My arm healed through the following month and they finally took the cast off. I was glad, that thing was annoying. I had started to ignore the team. My Dad was right, it wasn't my fault. They had made second place at state, that was good enough for me, to know that I hadn't let them down too much. I had gone to the recruiters to talk about going into the Marines or the Navy, after high school. I purposely kept it from Kelly and Dad, I would talk to them when the time came, when I had graduated from high school. It made me proud to know that Kelly was going to graduate with me and she had got a scholarship to the university she wanted to go to.

I had avoided the team most of the time and Kelly was my constant companion. We had most of our classes together. She had a few advance classes that she went to, that I didn't. Dad and I were so proud of her. She was going to be a damn good forensic tech. She had told me that she planned to be a NCIS lab tech and I knew she could do anything she set her mind to. She had dated a few times and I had been jealous but it seemed a lot of them got in the way of her studies so she broke up with them. I shouldn't be happy that she broke up when she actually liked the guy, but hell if I wasn't glad! I started to work harder on my training with Dad, on learning to get my fighting style better.

I went to the range alone now and I worked on my skills with a gun. I wanted to go into the Marines with some experience, so I could make my dad proud of me because I was going to be a good Marine and fight for my country, like he had. Truth be told, I wanted my Dad to be proud of that, but more than that, I wanted to be able to protect and serve my country. I wasn't sure whether I wanted to go into the Navy or the Marines, that was still a choice I had time to make. I was a strong swimmer, I had learned to scuba dive early on, and I'd long ago decided that I wanted to either be a Marine or a Navy SEAL. I was going to do eight years, then I was going to come back and join NCIS.

I also wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. I know I could never prove to my real father that I was strong and had good morals, but I could prove that to the family I had now. Kelly walked up to me and smirked.

"So, you're 18 now and we have only about four months until graduation." I smirked to her and sat down at the kitchen table.

"Can't believe you got into that university. I am proud of you, Kelly. You're going to make a good forensic tech when you graduate, and I know your going to get into NCIS." She blushed and she was so cute.

"Thanks, Tony. I am glad you have faith in me. I am nervous about it all." I looked at her and shrugged.

"Don't be. You can do anything you set your mind to." With a goodnight hug we went our separate ways to bed.

It was going to be about two months before they were due to graduate and we were sitting around the table. Kelly had just told us she would be going straight into university after she graduated. Me and Tony smirked, we knew she would, she wanted to graduate fast and go straight into NCIS. Tony stretched out, he was eighteen.

"I enlisted in the Marines." Kelly started to choke on her food and I patted her back and I looked at him.

"Son, why didn't you talk to me first about this?" But before he could answer, Kelly stood up, she looked angry.

"How the hell can you do that to me? I don't want you coming back in a damn box. You're just going there to risk your damn life." I could see the pain in Tony eyes as she stormed off.

"Dad, I really want to do this!" I looked at him.

"I can see that, son, but I wish you would have talked to me first." He looked at me.

"I was scared I was going to lose my nerve, Dad." I knew Tony well enough to know that was probably true. We washed the dishes and went downstairs together to work on the boat. We both knew that we needed to let Kelly cool off. She rarely lost her temper like that and we both knew she would go out for a run. She exercised, just not as much as me and Tony, we went on jogs about twice a day, if we could.

We had been working on the boat for about twenty minutes before Tony spoke again.

"Dad, you think Kelly hates me?" I took a deep breath and looked at him.

"No, son, but she scared because there is a greater chance of death in the Marines than there is in being a cop." He nodded some. I could see he understood that. I looked at him. "So, when do you get shipped to boot camp?" I saw a look flash across his face, I knew that wasn't a good sign.

"In two weeks. I am going to take my GED test tomorrow." That's when I heard someone stomping down the stairs.

"You asshole! You were going to graduate with me!" Kelly slapped him, hard, across the face. "How could you do that to me? Damn you, Anthony DiNozzo!"

Tony wouldn't hit her but he would scream at her. They had only ever been in a fight twice.

"I didn't do this for you, Kelly. I did this for me, so back off. If you don't like the idea, I don't really care! I am going and I am going to do what I want with my own life!" Tony stormed out of the house. It was his turn to cool down by going for a run.

"Kelly, hun, I don't like it either, but you know Tony, he's going to go. He's already enlisted and he can't back out of this." She buried her head in my arms. As she cried, I stroked her hair. "You're going to talk to him tomorrow because you know he is doing something good for his country." She sighed and nodded slightly.

"Dad, I'm going up to bed." I let her go because I knew there was nothing I could do tonight. Once Tony cooled off, they would talk and things would probably be better, not perfect but they would be better! I laid my head on the boat! I was scared for my son because I knew what he was going to go through in the Marines. He had a hard road ahead and he knew it too. I knew he didn't go in there and enlist thinking it was going to be easy. Tony was not a stupid person, he was smart and he was brave.

The next day things seemed to be a bit better. He had got his GED diploma and we were proud of him for that. Things got better as the week went on, they were talking and spending more time together than normal. Kelly wanted to spend all her time with Tony and it was the same for Tony. When I came home in the evening, they were making dinner for all of us. We sat down and ate together. They seemed back to normal and I was glad.

We were at the bus station, waiting for the one that was going to take Tony to boot camp. We hugged him and we both told him that we were proud of him. He got on that bus and I felt the fear take hold of me, but he had chosen this and I was going to support him!

~Finished~